Is lucky 7 looming for O'Leary?

MICHAEL O'Leary will be chasing his seventh Mount Gambier Cup when he saddles up Evenmoreaction and Risk It All in today's $40,000 event.

MICHAEL O'Leary will be chasing his seventh Mount Gambier Cup when he saddles up Evenmoreaction and Risk It All in today's $40,000 event.

The local trainer first won the race with Down The Pitch in 1989 and has gone on to build a remarkable record in the 2400m affair.

His second came with Call The Waiter in 1995, before collecting three of them in the following decade with All The Action (2001), Solitas (2006) and Town Clown (2007) all prevailing.

Risk It All is shooting for back-to-back victories after saluting in last year's edition, while Evenmoreaction comes into the race after taking out the Millicent Cup at Penola earlier this month. O'Leary rates the latter as his best hope.

"I thought it was an excellent win (last start)," he said.

"He's got a pretty high cruising speed and won't stop.

"He was up on the pace the whole way, had a kick around the corner and they couldn't catch him."

Victorian-based jockey Linda Meech, who rode the Blevic five-year-old two starts back at Warrnambool, was keen to make the trip across the border and goes from barrier six.

Risk It All ran third in the Millicent Cup, finishing just over a length behind his stablemate. Senior hoop Dom Tourneur steered the Happy Giggle seven-year-old home in last year's race and will be hoping to repeat the dose from gate eight this time.

"There's nothing wrong with him, it was a good run," O'Leary said.

"The only query over him is that I'd like to see the track a bit wetter.

"It's not that he needs it that much wetter, but it would slow down the ones carrying 60kg."

This year's event is a competitive one with the likes of Hissing Sid, Texan Warney, The Black Oak and Telesmon all likely to be prominent.

"It's a good race, don't make any mistakes about that," O'Leary said.

"I reckon you can go through every runner and find a reason why nearly everyone one could win."

O'Leary, who has won just about every other cup in the region, said the Mount Gambier Cup has a special meaning for him.

"It was my first major cup 23 years ago," he said.

"You always dream of winning your hometown cup and then when you win it a few times you think - can I ever win it again?

"You can only hope, but they're both pretty fit and well."